Red
by Draconis Occidentalis
Summary: Ludwig is the psychologist to Alfred F. Jones, a schizophrenic nineteen year old, who murdered a few people when he was younger. Alfred seems to despise Ludwig and will do anything to escape from the asylum he was put in. Germerica and one-sided AmeBel.
1. Matthew and Natalia

**I've wanted to write about and asylum for a while now, so here it is! I guess there are a few pairings in here involving America, but it'll end with Germerica. Since, that is still my OTP.**

_"Alfred!" a familiar voice called me. I turned around to see my brother, Matthew running toward me. We were both six year olds and school had just ended. "It's summer!" he said, catching up to me._

_I smiled, "Yeah!"_

_We continued to walk home and eventually reached our small house. I knew Papa and Dad would probably be home from their work and would greet us as usual. Maybe even more enthusiastic now that school was out and it was summer._

_We had planned a trip to England, where Dad was from. Then we might go to France where Papa used to live. I knew that both Matthew and I were adopted, but Papa and Dad treated us like their own kids. _

_I opened the door to our house and I only heard silence._

_"Alfred . . .where are Papa and Dad?" Matthew asked, clutching my jacket. "I don't know. Maybe they're just hiding!" I suggested and laughed. Matthew gave me a small smile, "Yeah! They're hiding!"_

I opened my eyes to see white.

White.

Empty.

No color.

Why did my room have to be white? At the very least it could've been gray.

Or black . . .the color of darkness.

But red . . .that would've been best.

The color of beautiful blood . . .hehe.

I sat up in my bed, the white sheets falling off of me. I glanced around the room to see if there was anything in here that wasn't white.

Nope.

Just a white room with white walls and a table with a single chair, both happened to be painted white.

Did they really think white was a good color? It was horrible and plain . . .boring. Even my loose pants and t-shirt were plain white.

My eyes then focused on the single room in this room. I could look outside it, but it was impossible to try and use it to get out of this place. The bars made that possible.

Still, it was my only escape from the boring white. I walked over to the window and looked out to see a garden with tons of different plants and other patients here, walking around it.

Of course, they weren't alone. Some of the nurses and doctors stood nearby, watching the patients.

I heard footsteps coming close to my room and smiled. It seemed my own doctor had come to visit me.

I continued looking out my window for a few seconds, before I heard the door to my room being unlocked. I heard it open and quickly shut. I turned around to see someone familiar.

"Ludwig~!" I said, hugging him.

"Alfred. Off. NOW," he said in his German accent. I gave him a pout and did as told, sitting back down on my boring, white bed. I watched Ludwig glance at me, then walk over to the chair and set his clipboard which had been in his hands, on the table.

Ludwig adjusted the glasses he was wearing and I knew what was coming next.

"Is Matthew still, visiting you?" he asked. I felt my fingers grip the white sheets as I restrained myself from yelling at him.

"He wasn't here yesterday and I just woke up. So, I haven't seen him since a few days ago," I answered.

"And Natalia?" he asked. "She doesn't like you. So she never comes when you're here," I said. He wrote something on the clipboard and continued with the same questions.

Most of them involved Matthew and Natalia. Although, something was different this time. Usually Ludwig would just ask his last question, which was always the same, and leave. The last question was different this time, though.

"Alfred . . .are you willing to tell me what happened before you cam here?" he asked. "…..Natalia said I shouldn't tell anyone," I answered.

"Maybe you can tell me one day?" he asked me.

I stayed silent.

He sighed, "Alfred, you want to leave here, don't you?"

I still stayed silent and looked towards my window, ignoring him.

I heard the chair scraping against the floor as Ludwig got up and headed toward the door. I didn't bother to look behind me or check to see if he locked the door after he left. I already knew it was locked.

"Alfred," a new voice came and I looked at the chair Ludwig had just been sitting in. A girl around my age, nineteen, with long platinum blond hair and a blue dress on, was sitting in the chair now.

"Hi Natalia," I said.

"I don't like him," she practically hissed out, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know, you say that every time you visit me," I said.

"You should just kill him already. I know you can if you tried. Then we can both escape this place," she said. "I don't want to kill anyone, besides Ludwig is just doing his job. He's supposed to watch over me and take notes. He can say if its ok for me to leave or not, but that stupid director can override Ludwig's decision," I said.

"Plus, the only way I'd be able to leave is if you and Mattie went away and left me alone."

"That isn't possible," Natalia said, "the only way you can escape is with me. If you let me go, then you'll never leave this place."

"By the way, where is Matthew?" I asked. Natalia shrugged, "He could be anywhere, unlike me, he can travel places."

I sighed, "Right. He's probably visiting Papa or something . . ."

I smirked at the thought of our Papa. He was probably worse then me . . .then, again, who'd be sane after seeing all of that beautiful, thick, red . . .blood.

I let out a laugh. I loved the memories of the beautiful red I had once been able to make so easily . . .then they had locked me up in here.

So what if I killed a few people to paint this world red? What if I could see people that other people couldn't? It was a crime to trap people in places they didn't want to be!

"Alfred, don't think about it. Just try to focus on how to get out of here," Natalia continued. I sighed, "Fine."

I felt warm arms wrap around my neck and realized Natalia was now sitting new to me, on my bed. I felt her rest her head on my shoulder. "Thank you Alfred . . .I don't know what I'd be without you," she said.

I was silent because I wasn't really focusing on her.

Instead I was focusing on a new person that had entered this room.

He looked almost identical to me. ALMOST. There were some differences you could see if you really paid attention.

"Hello, Matthew. Nice of you to join us," Natalia hissed, still holding on to me. "Hi Natalia," Matthew replied. "Hey Mattie," I replied.

"I heard Ludwig talking to the director on my way here," Matthew said. "What did they say?" I asked.

"The director said that tomorrow you can go outside."

Outside . . .a place I hadn't been since . . .that day.

**I know its a cliche ending of a chapter, but it's cliche for a reason. The story might be confusing, but it'll make sense later on.**

**Who can guess who the director is? It might be easy to guess in the next chapters, since I will give hints. So, review and tell me how it is so far?**

**~Draconis**


	2. The Voice

When I look back on that day, I think that it was the last normal day of my life. After that . . .nothing was ever normal again, after then.

_"Let's go find them!" I continued, enthusiastically. Matthew nodded and followed me into the living room where it was dark and quiet. "Look everywhere! They're hiding somewhere!" I said._

_"Ok. I just hope we can find them," Matthew said. I smiled and looked under the couch. I only saw tons of dust and a few of Dad's -horrible- scones. I continued looking around one side of the room, while Matthew looked on the other side. _

_"I can't find them!" I said, pouting. "D-do you . . .think . . .something happened to them?" Matthew whispered. "Naw! They're just not hiding in this room! Come on, we have to look all over the house!" I said._

_We looked all over the house, but we still couldn't find them. The only placed we hadn't looked was our rooms, mine and Matthew's, and Papa and Dad's. _

_I walked up the stairs, slowly, with Matthew still following me. I had to admit that even I was finding it hard to keep believing that Papa and Dad were just hiding. The stairs creaked under our feet as we continued climbing up._

_Once we reached the second floor, I knew something was wrong. Matthew probably sensed it too and grabbed onto my jacket, again. "Alfred . . .it's scary," he whispered. "It's ok, I'll protect you," I whispered back. We walked down the hallway and saw that the wallpaper was town in places._

_I stopped in front of Papa and Dad's room. It was pulled close, but I could hear strange sounds coming from it. The most distinct sound was a slow: Drip. Drip._

_"Alfred, don't open the door. Please," Matthew said. "But we have to find out what that noise is," I replied and placed my hand on the doorknob. _

_I felt Matthew's grip on my jacket get tighter, but I still turned the doorknob. It felt like eternity, until I heard the small click of the door opening. It only opened a small crack, but it was dark inside the room. I opened the door more and a distinguishing scent hit my nose._

_It smelled like meat, but not exactly. I felt my hand reach around for the light switch and I found it, turning the lights on._

_I heard Matthew scream and run out. I just stared at the scene before me. Our Dad's body was tied to the bed, his face and body covered in blood, well actually half of his face seemed to be torn off. The walls had ton of blood stains on it and I saw a message written in the blood:_

_You're too late._

"Alfred, please don't think about that," Natalia said, breaking me out of my memory. I didn't know how she could tell what I was thinking of, she'd always been able to do that somehow. "Sorry," I muttered.

Matthew looked at me strangely, then continued his explanation, "The director told Ludwig that you seemed stable enough to go outside. I didn't hear the rest because Ludwig started yelling and-"

"You don't like it when people yell," I finished. He nodded and sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall. It was then that I noticed something lying next to him.

A small polar bear, named Kumijuro. He was always with Matthew for some reason.

"Mattie?" I asked. "Hm?"

"Why do you have Kumijuro always with you? You never had him before we came here," I said. He shrugged, "I'm not sure. I jus found him one day and we've been friends since then."

I thought about what he'd told me. "….K. I wish I had a pet. A cat would be the best, but Papa and Dad never let me have one," I said. "Maybe they just weren't ready for a pet," Matthew said, petting Kumijuro.

"Maybe . . ." I muttered.

I felt Natalia unravel her arms from around me and got off of my bed. "We shouldn't be focusing on things like that! We should be planning our escape!" she yelled.

"I can already leave here if I want-" Mathew started to say, before Natalia interrupted him.

"I am not talking about you! I don't care about you! I was talking about Alfred and me!"

"Calm down, Natalia," I said. She sighed, "But we should plan our escape. We have the chance, now and I'm not going to let you mess it up."

"I won't," I said.

_Inncollent child. Of course, you'll mess it up! You were and idiot back then and you're still an idiot! _A voice suddenly said in my head. I recognized it well.

I placed my hand on my head, as if trying to block out the voice. Of course, that didn't work because it was inside my head.

_Just listen to me for once. You trapped yourself in here because you were an idiot. And you'll stay trapped in here if you act like and idiot, again._

"SHUT UP!" I yelled.

"Alfred, don't listen to him!" Natalia said, realizing what was happening. "Just ignore him," she said, placing her hands on top of mine. I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the voice as it continued to mock me.

Eventually, it went away. When it did I noticed that Natalia was now sitting next to me, again. "If you don't think about your past, then he won't come," she said. I nodded. "I have to go Alfred," Matthew suddenly said.

"Again? Can't you stay for at least more then one day?" I asked. He shook his head, "I'm sorry bro, but I have to. I'll be back tomorrow, though!"

I sighed, "Ok."

And with that, he was gone.

"Hmph, maybe he just doesn't want to help you escape," Natalia huffed. "Natalia! Of course he does!" I said. She crossed her arms (it was sort of her signature move, nowadays) and mumbled something that I didn't hear. I was about to ask what she had said when I heard a familiar sound outside my door.

The sound of a certain nurse coming to my door to give me lunch . . .or breakfast, I couldn't tell, there wasn't a clock in my room, only the window.

The door opened to reveal a young nurse with a rather large breasts. She immediately closed the door and I noticed she had a tray in her hand. "Hello Alfred," she said, giving me a small smile. I gave her my emotionless stare and watched as she set my tray on the table.

I didn't move from my spot on my bed and neither did Natalia.

"Come on, eat," Katyusha said. I still didn't move. She sighed, "It's a hamburger today."

That made me get up. I walked over to the chair, keeping a distance between myself and Katyusha. She may have seemed innocent and oblivious, but trust me, she could handle herself. I sat down and stared at the tray that was on the table.

On it had a plate with a hamburger, some fries, and there was a small mug next to the plate.

"That isn't water," I said, pointing the mug. "No shit, sherlock," Natalia hissed from her spot on the bed. She seemed to be avoiding to even glance at Katyusha. That always happened, but when I asked about it, Natalia had threatened me (involving my tongue and a knife).

"It's Earl Gray Tea. Ludwig told me you liked it," Katyusha said. I'd told him that? Hm, must've been when I wasn't really paying attention to his questions.

"There's probably drugs in it that can kill you," Natalia said. Both of us had come to the conclusion that certain medication had been put in my food so I'd be less . . .not sane. We were probably right, but I didn't know for sure. "There's nothing in it, just drink it. Both Ludwig and I did our best to persuade Big Brother into letting you have it," Katyusha said.

I ate my food in silence and occasionally drank the tea. The whole time Katyusha watched me, but she always did. She had to make sure I ate my food, since that was her job.

When I was done with my food, there was still some tea left, which I soon finished off. "My Dad used to let me drink Earl Gray Tea, when I was little. It reminds me of him," I said.

"That's sweet," Katyusha said and picked up my empty tray. When she was about to leave, she turned back to me, "Alfred. Big Brother said you could go outside tomorrow, but you have to behave like today, until then. He can still change his mind."

"I know that I'm going out tomorrow. Matthew already told me," I said. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded, "Of course he did," and with that she opened the door and was gone.

I heard the door lock and Natalia let out a sigh.

"I don't like Katyusha, either," she said. "You don't really like anyone, except me," I said. She didn't answer, but instead looked at my window.

"We still need to plan our escape."

**Boring chapter is boring. I guess nothing much happened in this chapter, except the flashback, but the next chapter will be much better! And possibly longer, I'm not sure, yet. **

**~Draconis**


	3. Outside

_"Papa, where's Matthew?" I asked, glaring at Papa. He sat on the couch, his eyes dull as they had been for the past seven years (if you're bad at math then that means I'm thirteen). I had come home and hadn't found Matthew anywhere. For some reason, we went to different middle schools, so I couldn't always protect him from anything that happened at school._

_I could tell he was being bullied because he was quiet and smart. Every day he came home with some sort of new cut or bruise. Papa didn't notice, so I took care of Matthew._

_I . . .had been much more different._

_I'd become violent and pretty much got into fights every day now. I usually won, but not without my own cuts and bruises._

_And Papa still didn't notice._

_He hadn't really talked to us ever since that day when we'd found Dad. He went to his job, which I assumed he still did well in, but when he got home he was dull and lifeless . . .as if Matthew and I didn't exist! I could understand if he had been depressed about Dad, but it'd been seven fucking years!_

_Back to the present._

_Papa shrugged and I felt anger boiling in me. I ran up to my room and looked around to see if Matthew was in there. He wasn't. I let out a frustrated growl and stormed back downstairs, past Papa, and out the door, slamming it behind me._

_I could feel a cold wind hit me as I walked down the street and to the small forest where Matthew and I used to play. I eventually reached it and saw footprints in the mud. They were recent ones, too._

_I sighed in relief, realizing that Matthew had probably just wanted to be alone for a while and had went into the forest. I continued to walk into the forest, knowing it like the back of my hand, until I reached a small creek._

_There was Matthew, sitting on the bank, his knees curled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. I could see tear streaks down his face and silently walked over, to sit next to him._

_He didn't react when I sat down. "Hey, Mattie. Why are you sad?" I asked. "They made fun of me, again. I didn't know what to do, so I came here. I'm sorry for worrying you," he said. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, "Hey, don't worry about those jerks!"_

_"Alfred . . .it's not just them. There's a . . .voice," he whispered so quietly I almost didn't hear him, but I did. "What do you mean?" I asked suddenly very concerned. _

_"….It sounds like Dad. He tells me to ignore them, too and that I can be stronger if I wanted, but I'd have to do something first."_

_"What would you have to do?" I asked. "Find the person that killed Dad and kill them," Matthew said and I felt him shiver against me. "Don't listen to the voice. It's not Dad, he wouldn't want that," I said, my voice stern._

_"But he said if I don't listen-"_

_"Like I said, ignore it!"_

_"…..Ok."_

The scene changed.

_I walked into the house, glaring at Papa who was asleep on the couch. It had been my first day of high school and I had actually not gotten into a fight, today._

_Matthew, once again, didn't go to the same school as me. I thought that it was strange for Papa to apply us to different schools, but like I said before, he was still pretty lifeless and dull. I was just glad he still did his job and we still had our house and could buy food . . .but I still missed Papa._

_I sighed and went upstairs to find Matthew. Our bedroom door was closed and when I tried to turn the doorknob, it was locked. "Matthew, you in there?" I asked._

_No answer. _

_I knocked on the door this time and still no one answer. "Matthew, open the door!" I yelled. _

_I suddenly felt a very cold breeze and I shivered. Wait . . .none of the windows were open, though. I ignored that thought as I heard the door unlock. I turned the doorknob and the door slowey opened._

_My eyes widened at the similar situation I was in. _

_There was Matthew leaning against the side of the bed, with a knife in his hand. I could see a tons of stabs on his chest and the blood soaked his white shirt. _

"Alfred! Wake up you fat-ass!" Natalia's voice woke me up from my dream. I opened my eyes to see her glaring at me from across the room. I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes, "What? I was dreaming."

"Exactly. You shouldn't dream about that," she replied.

"Whatever," I said. I glanced around my room once, again.

Still a boring white.

But soon, I'd be outside. Hm, I wonder when Ludwig and Katyusha will get here. Ludwig had come back later, yesterday and told me that he and Katyusha would escort me outside. If I was calm with the other patients, then I could continue going outside.

But there was something bothering me. Right after he'd left yesterday, the voice had come back. He had continued to mock me and told me to just listen to him.

I didn't listen to the voice . . .but it was hard to ignore him sometimes.

"They're here," Natalia said and disappeared. "Just remember, beware room number 42," her voice said, then was gone completely. I would've asked her what she meant, when my door opened and Ludwig appeared.

"Hallo Alfr-"

"What's in room 42?" I asked.

Katyusha appeared behind Ludwig and her eyes filled with sadness. "Nothing important," Ludwig replied, "Let's go."

Both of them stayed pretty silent as we walked down the hall that led outside. Of course, they still didn't trust me completely, since I could still easily kill anyone. I hadn't for a while because I hadn't felt like it.

We passed other rooms with different numbers on them. I knew other patients lived in them, but I had never met any of them. "Ludwig, do I get to meet other patients?" I asked. "Possibly," he answered, walking next to me.

The rest was silence, until I saw a rather large door in the hallway.

The number on it was 42.

"Ludwig, please tell me who's in here," I said. I didn't know why I wanted to know about this room (besides the fact that Natalia told me to beware this room), but I got a familiar feeling from it that I hadn't felt in a long time.

"Alfred. Please don't ask that," Katyusha said. "But I want to know," I said.

"My older bruder is in there. Now let's go," Ludwig said and continued to walk away.

That I did NOT expect.

I had guessed that Ludwig worked here for a reason, but I didn't think that one of his family members was a patient here. Or that they were the patient that was in the room, that Natalia told me to beware of.

"Come on, Alfred," Katyusha said. I nodded and continued walking, but that didn't mean I didn't stop thinking about Ludwig's brother.

Eventually we reached a huge black door.

FINALLY something that wasn't white.

I saw Ludwig reach into a pocket of his lab coat and pull out a few keys. I took note of what each looked like and noticed which one he picked to unlock the door.

I saw him turn the handle and the door opened, letting in sunlight. "Go on, Alfred," Katyusha said. I warily walked over to the door and saw the garden that I had only been able to see through my window. There were a few other patients there, not as many as I usually saw, though.

They glanced at me, but then returned to whatever they were doing.

Then I noticed the giant gates surrounding the garden. _Figures_, I thought. I walked more into the garden, glancing once behind me to see that Ludwig had closed the door and both he and Katyusha were standing in front of it, watching me.

I walked over to a small stone bench and sat down on it.

It was nice to be outside, again, but I still felt trapped. Those giant gates were probably electric or something. Plus there were also other doctors here and they would probably know about me.

"Konnichiwa, I am Kiku," a boy around my age said, walking up to me. He was dressed in the same white clothes as me, so I assumed he was another patient. He had short black hair and brown eyes, with pale skin. "Alfred," I replied. He sat down next to me, "Are you new?"

"No," I answered, "I've been here for a while, I just wasn't let outside."

"Hmmm . . ." he said, "that isn't common, but it is possible."

"Why are you here?" I suddenly asked. He stared at me for a minute before saying, "We can't tell anyone else why we're here."

"Why not?" I asked. He shrugged, "It is a rule."

"Alright. Can you tell me about that part of the building, then?" I asked, pointing to part of the asylum.

I hadn't noticed this until I'd gotten outside, but one half of the asylum was coated in dirt and looked like it was falling apart. The other half was pure white and looked brand new. Kiku shook his head, "I don't know, much, since I've only been here a few months, but I've heard rumors."

"Like what?" I asked.

"That's where Dr. Beilschmidt's older brother lives," Kiku said. "That whole thing?" I asked. He nodded, "Apparently there's a door inside the asylum that leads to that whole half of it."

I stayed silent and glanced over to where Ludwig was. I saw him looking at the half of the asylum that his older brother ,apparently, was in. I looked in that direction too and saw something in one of the dirt covered windows.

I remember seeing someone looking straight at me.


	4. Gilbert

_It was a few months later._

_"Hello, I'm Elizabeta!" the enthusiastic young woman said, smiling at me. Beside her stood a man around her age with glasses and dark brown hair. "This is Roderich, my husband! You must be Alfred!"_

_I nodded, glancing around at their house. It was much bigger then the one Papa's and Dad's. It sort of looked like a mansion. "This place is nice," Matthew said, standing next to me. I nodded, "It's nice here."_

_"I'm a musician. I could teach you to play an instrument if you're interested, since you'll be living here from now on," Roderich said, giving me a small smile. I returned it, but mine was fake. _

_"Shall we go inside?" Elizabeta asked. I nodded and Roderich mumbled, "Yes." Matthew was still glancing around, but I pulled on his hand and he followed me inside._

_It seemed even bigger inside the house, but it still seemed . . .well, homey. "Would you like me to show you to your room?" Elizabeta asked. I nodded and she led me to a huge staircase. We climbed up it and it led to a single room. _

_The colors in it consisted of red, blue, and white. "They told me, that you liked red, white and blue . . .so-"_

_"Thank you," I said, giving her a smile. "Could I have some time alone to adjust?" I asked. She nodded, "Of course." She climbed back down the stairs. _

_Once she was gone, I smirked. "A perfect place for us, huh Mattie?" I asked my brother. He nodded and sat on the bed. "They don't notice me, though," he said. "It's ok, Mattie! I can still see you!" I said, hugging him. He hugged me back, "Thanks Al."_

_"How do you think Papa's doing?" he asked me, once I had sat next to him on the bed. I shrugged, "Don't know. They still think he did that to you. It probably isn't fun to be in jail."_

_Matthew sighed, "Yeah. I still don't know why I did that, though."_

_"It was probably that voice," I growled. He stiffened next to me, "I'm sorry. I didn't know why, but I still listened to it. I know it wasn't Dad, though. You were right, he wouldn't tell me to do that sort of thing, like . . .well try to kill myself."_

_"Well, it's ok, now! That voice doesn't come back anymore, right?" I asked. "No, it's been gone for a while now," Matthew said. "Good."_

_"Could we go back to Elizabeta and Roderich downstairs? Maybe we should try to get to know them, since they seem nice," Matthew said. "Sure, Mattie!"_

"How was it outside, Alfred?" Matthew asked me, sitting down next to me. "Ok, I guess. I met another patient, Kiku and he told me a lot of information about this place."

Natalia ignored both of us as she leaned against a wall in my room, her arms crossed. She'd been like this ever since I'd return from my adventure outside. It wasn't like we'd planned anything on how to escape, though. She'd just told me to observe and see if there was a way to get out.

"Like what?" Matthew asked. "That the director, Ivan and Katyusha, well it seems their family has always owned this place. Kiku said that Katyusha is also his nurse, but he has a different doctor. Someone named Yao . . ."

"Why is Kiku here?" Matthew asked. I shrugged, "He said that there's a rule here: You can't tell the other patients why you're here. Kiku seems nice, though, so I don't know why he's here."

"Al, YOU seem nice at first. Then you see the color red," Matthew said. I glared at him, "So what? I like red!"

"You know what I mean," he replied.

"And speaking of red, there weren't any plants that color!" I complained. Matthew sighed, "Well, seeing as what your reaction is too it, I'd assume they wouldn't."

"Oh and apparently Ludwig has an older brother," I said, changing the subject. I saw Natalia flinch from where she was standing, but I ignored it. "He does?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what his name is, but he has this whole HALF of the asylum to himself. It looks like that half is falling apart, though. I would think that Ludwig's brother would've tried to escape by now because it looks like the windows can be opened or broken."

"That's weird, I've never ran across him on my way to your room," Matthew said. "He's in room number 42," I said.

"YOU IDIOT!" Natalia suddenly yelled.

I looked at her, to see tears rolling down her face. "Natalia, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over to her. She backed away from me, "I told you to beware that room!"

"I know that. I didn't go in it, though. I was just curious as to what was in it," I said. She glared at me, "Gilbert ruined me and my family's life! I don't want the same thing to happen to you!"

Then she was gone. "Natalia! Wait!" I yelled, but it was too late. I turned around to ask Matthew if he knew what was wrong with her, but he was gone too.

"Both of you! Get back here now!" I yelled at the empty room.

Silence.

_Your friends seem to have abandoned you, except for me. Just listen to what I have to say,_ the voice said. "I won't listen to you!" I yelled.

* * *

It took a while for the voice to leave. Eventually I just lied down on my bed, trying to fall asleep. I didn't fall asleep, but the voice did go away. I sighed and sat up, looking out the window. It was dark now and I could see the moon coming out.

To me it looked a cat's claw.

Wait . . .was that . . .blood dripping from the moon?

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to focus on something else.

Something other then red.

Red.

Blood.

_No, don't think of that! Come on, Alfred, think of something else!_

It took me a minute to calm down, but eventually my mind was on something else. I sighed and opened my eyes. My eyes widened at what I saw.

The whole room was no longer white. Blood was splattered everywhere. The walls, the chair and table, and it even covered me. Then I saw all the bodies on the ground.

Katyusha, Matthew, Natalia, even Kiku and I had just met him, Dad, Papa, Elizabeta and Roderich (even though I hadn't thought about them in a long time) and finally Ludwig.

All of them were covered in blood, but there was something different about a few of them.

For instance Katyusha just seemed to be covered in blood, there didn't seem to be any wounds on her.

Matthew looked fifteen, again, with the same stabs in him and even the same clothes from back then. _Why is that?_

Natalia looked around six years old, with the same type of nurse dress that Katyusha always wore. I could see that her right arm was barely attacked to her shoulder and where her heart was supposed to be, there was a giant empty hole.

Kiku was basically the same as Katyusha, he was just covered in blood, but there was a sickly sweet smile on his face.

Dad . . .it was the same as when I last saw him. Covered in blood, half of his face torn off . . .

Papa had a huge slit across his throat, but other then that there were no wounds.

Elizabeta had tons of stab wounds in her and her leg was pretty mangled.

Roderich . . .ummm . . .well to put this lightly when I first saw him, it was hard to tell it was Roderich. Why? Well . . .his body parts sort of . . .weren't all attached.

Ludwig had the most blood on him. I could see his left eye had been gouged out and there was a giant gash on his right arm. I also saw a huge cut across his chest, that was caked with dry blood.

At first I had started smiling at all the blood and red. Have I mentioned that I love red?

I didn't notice the specific bodies at first, though. Once, I noticed the bodies, though . . .I stopped smiling.

Especially when I saw Ludwig's body. For some reason, it upset me, seeing him like that. Even though I did love red and it did look nice on him . . .it just didn't seem right.

"Alfred? Alfred!" a voice (not THE voice) started yelling and my vision became fuzzy. The red covering the walls started disappearing and became white, again. The bodies on the floor also started to fade.

I closed my eyes and opened them, again, to see Ludwig standing in front of me. He looked normal, thankfully. I had been worried-

WAIT! Why had I been worried?

"Alfred? Are you ok?" he asked, sitting down next to me _rather close_. "I-I . . .there was red . . ." I said and felt myself shudder. "You had a vision?" he asked. "Yeah . . .wait how'd you know?" I asked.

"Lucky guess," he answered. "Ludwig . . .why are you here?" I asked.

"…"

"Tell me. You never visit me around this time," I said. "I . . .my bruder said that you would probably be seeing something bad. So I came to your room and heard a . . .laughter."

Had I been laughing? I don't remember that . . .hm, maybe I had been sub-conciouselly doing that. "Your brother?" I asked. "…Yes. He-sometimes I visit him, but Ivan doesn't know that I do."

"So your brother really is in that half of the building?" I asked. Ludwig nodded, "But, he's not free to run around there. He kept tied up . . ."

"Ludwig, is your brother's name, Gilbert?" I asked.

"How did you-"

"Lucky guess," I replied, smirking, but inside I was trying to connect what Natalia had told me about 'Gilbert ruining her and her family's life'. I could see Ludwig's usual blank eyes show a flicker of amusement, but it quickly disappeared. After all, I was technically insane and dangerous, but only if I saw the color red or felt like it.

"Can I ask why he's here?" I asked.

"Gilbert had a friend that he'd known since childhood. She was somewhat violent and sometimes hurt him, but they stayed friends. Eventually when they were around fifteen she found another friend. They eventually started dating and Gilbert got a little jealous. I was five years old at the time and our father was old and sick. Eventually he died and Gilbert took care of me, but I could see that he still had conflicting emotions with his friends."

"And?"

"He . . .sort of went on a killing spree. I don't remember all the details, but it seemed like a police officer had found Gilbert after he'd killed a few innocent people. I'm not sure what happened to the police officer, but after that Gilbert was stopped."

_Hm, what was Dad's job again? Possibly a . . .police officer._

"He was sent here after the police heard him talking about voices talking to him and people being with him that no one else could see," Ludwig said.

"Then Elizabeta-" I stopped Ludwig from continuing.

"Elizabeta?" I asked in surprise. "Yes . . .that was Gilbert's friend . . ."

"Um, continue," I muttered. He did and I heard that Elizabeta took care of Ludwig with her family. When Elizabeta turned twenty, Roderich (her boyfriend) proposed to her and Ludwig was fifteen. He moved out of the house that Elizabeta and Roderich lived in and got his own apartment, finished high school . . .and I think you can figure out the rest. There was something else about the asylum, right after Gilbert got sent there, but I didn't really listen to that part.

"Ludwig . . .what happened to Elizabeta and Roderich?" I asked.

"About a year after I left them, I heard that they had been killed by an adopted child they had been taking care of," he answered.

_No . . .NO! This could not be happening! It can't be . . ._

"Ludwig, I need to tell you something, but don't be mad. You know that I killed a few people and that I can see people others can't and hear voices?"

"…..Yes."

"Well . . .those people that I killed . . .they were Elizabeta and Roderich."

**I'll just leave you at that cliffhanger. A few notes, though. First, I may not be able to update the next chapter for a while 'cause we have these big tests at school that I REALLY need to study for (but I've been writing this story, instead), this week. Also, I don't like PrussiaxHungary, I very much prefer AustriaxHungary, but it just sort of worked for the plot and . . .yeah. Thanks to all who have read the story so far and to those who have reviewed! If there are more reviews, I'll probably write the story faster . . .even if it's a short review.**

**~Draconis**


	5. The Director

**Sorry about the really long wait guys! I tried my best to write this chapter, but a lot of stuff came up, mostly school and some other personal stuff. Thanks for those of you who had reviewed, it did help me get started again! So, after a long wait, here's the fifth chapter of 'Red'!**

"W-what?" Ludwig said.

"I-I . . .killed them," I repeated and expected for him to yell, hit me, something other then what he actually did. Then, again, I didn't know that much about Ludwig.

"How did it happen?" he asked.

"I-it was a few months after you moved out and I moved in I guess . . ."

_"How was your day at school?" Elizabeta asked me. Roderich, her, Matthew and I were having dinner. Well, Matthew didn't eat anything, but he was sitting next to me. "Fine. I've been doing better at my grades," I answered. _

_"That's good. Do you still want to practice your guitar after dinner?" Roderich asked. I had already learned how to play the piano and now Roderich was teaching me how to play the guitar, even though he did prefer the piano._

_"Sure! Mattie enjoys listening to me play," I said._

_"Mattie?" he asked. "Umm . . .did I say Mattie? T-that's one of my friends at school!" I quickly said. "Oh, that's wonderful! You have a new friend! Tell us about him." Elizabeta said. _

_It had only been a few days later when Roderich came into my room after one of our practices. I had just been finishing my homework, with Matthew helping me._

_"Alfred, can I talk to you?" he asked. "Sure!" I said. _

_"It's about your friend . . .Matthew," he said. "What about him?" I asked suddenly worried. "Elizabeta and I talked to some of your teachers and they said that you don't have a friend Matthew."_

_"…"_

_"Is Matthew someone . . .you made up?" he asked. _

_"….."_

_"Alfred answer me!"_

_"He's my brother," I muttered, not expecting me to hear him. "Your brother-Oh . . .Alfred, what do you mean? I know that your brother died a few years ago-"_

_"He didn't die! He's right next to me!" I said, pointing to where Matthew was standing next to me. Matthew looked sadly from Austria to me, not saying a word. "Alfred-"_

_"I don't want to hear it! I knew if I told you, you'd think I'm crazy! But I'm not!" I yelled. _

_"I never said you were. Elizabeta and I just want the best for you and we're concerned if you're . . .seeing things," he said. "I'm not seeing things! He's real!" I continued yelling._

_"Roderich, Alfred! What's wrong?" Elizabeta came up the staircase a look of concern on her face. "Both of you, just go away!" I yelled._

_"Come on Roderich," Elizabeta said. _

_"But-"_

_"Let's go."_

_I saw them go back down the stairs and I was left alone with Matthew. "Alfred . . .what do we do now? They know that you can see me," Matthew said. "I'll deal with it, Matthew. Remember, I promised that we'd be able to stay together."_

_"Yes . . .I remember, but . . .I just don't want you to really go crazy."_

_"Don't worry! I won't!"_

_I waited until later that night to deal with Roderich and Elizabeta. I knew that they were fast asleep, so I silently slipped into the kitchen and looked through the silverware drawers. I quickly found a rather large and sharp knife. _

_Perfect._

_I glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It said 3 a.m. I smiled and walked over to Roderich and Elizabeta's room. It wasn't locked, which made my job that much easier. I opened the doorknob slowly and saw them both asleep._

_I smirked and walked over to them. I hid the knife behind my back and nudged Roderich awake. He opened his eyes, "A-alfred?"_

_I nodded, "Yes. I heard a noise in the kitchen, could you come check with me?"_

_"Sure," he said and got out of the bed, walking out of the room. He hadn't noticed my hands behind my back, which I was thankful for. I followed him into the kitchen, where he was glancing around._

_"Alfred, I don't hear anything," he said. "Oh? But then why do I hear screams?" I asked. _

_"Screams what are you talking about-"_

_He stopped talking when the knife met his back. _

Ludwig stayed silent and I continued to describe how I had killed Roderich. Then I had gotten Elizabeta into the kitchen too. After she'd seen Roderich's body, she didn't really put up a fight and it felt like she let me kill her.

That was when my obsession over red had arrived.

After I had seen the blood from the two, I had realized such a wonderful color red was.

After a few days, I guess someone had noticed that Roderich and Elizabeta were missing and the police came into the house. I hadn't bothered cleaning up the bodies or the blood, so they immediately accused me of killing them.

Then they found out that I could see my 'dead' brother . . .

"And I came here. I had a few doctors before you, but they didn't last long. They're probably still here . . .I think they might have rooms of their own," I finished, smirking at the thought that I'd probably driven my former doctors insane.

"Alfred . . ." Uh-oh. I knew that tone in Ludwig's voice. It was the tone that meant bad news. I looked away from him, not wanting to see

"It's ok that you killed them," he said and started to stand up. I sat there, shocked.

He was OK that they were dead? That _I _had killed them? That didn't make sense! He should've been mad and done SOMETHING other then what he'd said!

I paused my thoughts to see that Ludwig had almost reached the door.

"Wait Ludwig!"

He stopped and turned around, "Yes, Alfred?"

"I'm . . .sorry for what I did to Roderich and Elizabeta . . .and you shouldn't say its ok that I killed them," I said. He walked back over to me and sat down next to me, again, "Alfred . . .I wasn't THAT close to them. They were good friends and I will always be grateful to what they did for me, but that is it. Besides, you can't bring back the dead."

"But-"

He suddenly kissed me on the forehead, cutting me off.

"Good night, Alfred. I'll come back to see you tomorrow," he said and walked off to the door, again.

I barely registered what he'd said and I didn't notice when he left either.

I was thinking about why he had kissed me.

Yes, it had just been on the forehead . . .but it was still strange. Why would he do that? Why did I have a strange feeling in me? And why was I blushing?

I laid down on my bed, thinking about those questions.

I couldn't think of any answers. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping for a peaceful sleep.

I didn't get one.

* * *

I was still in the asylum, but a part I didn't recognize. I noticed many nurses and doctors in the hallways, but I didn't see a single patient and no one even glanced at me. All the doors in the hallways were closed.

Then, I spotted Natalia.

There she was, around six years old, with another child around her age. He had much lighter blond hair and violet eyes. His neck was wrapped in a long scarf that seemed a bit too big for him.

"Ivan, where did Katyusha go?" Natalia suddenly asked the boy. Ivan didn't answer her and just kept glancing around, watching the other doctor and nurses walking around.

"Ivan! Natalia!" a familiar voice yelled.

It was Katyusha, but she looked at least several years older then Natalia and Ivan.

"Father said we have to leave, now!" she said and pulled both Ivan and Natalia's hands, leading them somewhere. I followed them, but we weren't that far when Natalia's pulled away from Katyusha.

"I-I forgot something in our room, I'll be right back!" Natalia said and ran back in the other direction, out of sight.

"Wait-" Katyusha yelled, but shook her head and turned her attention back to Ivan. "Come one, she'll catch up . . .I hope," she said and Ivan nodded.

She once again, started to lead him somewhere, but this time I didn't follow. This time, I stayed where I was, hoping Natalia would come back and catch up to Ivan and Katyusha.

Several minutes passed and she didn't come back.

Then a scream split the air.

* * *

"Alfred! Alfred! Wake up!" My eyes jolted opened and I saw Katyusha (the one I was used to) shaking me awake. She sighed in relief, "You were screaming in your sleep."

"S-sorry," I muttered, then noticed that Katyusha still looked worried. "What?" I asked, sitting up.

"U-um . . .the director, my older brother, is outside the door. H-he said . . .that he . . .wanted to talk to you alone, so please, don't do anything," she said. I smirked, "I can't do anything locked up here, you don't need to worry."

"O-ok," she said and walked towards the door, opening it. She walked out and another person walked in, shutting the door behind him.

I recognized this person, even if he did look older.

"Hello Alfred, I'm the director, but you should know that, da? My name is Ivan Braginski, but call me Ivan. Now, I'd like to talk to you about something important and you can not tell Ludwig about my little visit."

**I hope that was a good chapter and I'll try to write the next one a lot faster! Also, have any of you noticed an kind of important Hetalia character that HASN'T been in the story so far? Because that character will be in the story in the next chapter.**

**~Draconis**


	6. Tomorrow

**Hello to whoever is still reading this failed fanfic! I have been trying to type this up, but things kept on coming up. Anyway, this chapter is real short, but its all I can write for now. Enjoy!**

It had been a few months since Ivan had visited me that day, that things REALLY changed.

Natalia hadn't come back after that night, but I still had Matthew.

Everything seemed normal other then that, though. Ludwig still visited me everyday, along with Katyusha. I still got to go outside and I would always talk to Kiku. He wasn't exactly my 'friend', but was probably the closest thing I'd get to one.

I still wondered if I should've disobeyed Ivan and told Ludwig about what Ivan had talked to me about. Once, when Kiku and I were talking, it came up.

"I heard the others say that the director visited you a few months ago," Kiku stated. "Yes, but it wasn't much," I said, trying to evade the subject. "He rarely visits any of the patients unless it's really important," he continued, obviously not going change the subject anytime soon.

"He talked to me about my certain 'condition'. That's it," I said. "Has he come back since then?" Kiku asked. "No."

"Strange," I heard him mutter, "Usually he'd have visited 'them' more then once." I probably should've asked Kiku what he'd meant, but I was afraid of what his answer would be.

When I was back inside my room, Matthew appeared. "Alfred, you seem upset," he immediately said, noticing my mood. "It's nothing," I muttered. "Come on Alfred, I know when something is upsetting you," he said, sitting next to me on my bed.

"Kiku said something today."

"And . . .?"

"It was about me . . .I think. He said that Ivan, the director, would've visited me more times then just once. The thing is, he didn't just specifically say me, he said 'them'," I explained to Matthew. "Hm . . .well maybe you should ask Kiku tomorrow what he meant by 'them," he said.

I sighed, "Alright . . .tomorrow."


End file.
